An NRC Associate is neither an employee of the sponsoring laboratory nor an employee of the NRC. An Associate is considered to be a guest investigator, who is awarded a stipend by the NRC to conduct full-time research in residence at a sponsoring laboratory.

Associates are expected to devote 100 percent of working time and intellectual effort to their NRC research program. Therefore, additional compensation for services from another appointment, including part-time teaching, research, consulting, or outside work may not be accepted. Furthermore, an Associate generally may not hold other fellowships or similar awards (e.g., honoraria) during their tenure.

This policy is intended to ensure that Associates are not distracted from their research. It protects the fellowship status of the NRC award, which carries certain tax implications for Associates. It also avoids potential conflicts concerning ownership of intellectual property that might arise from research conducted by the Associate.

Exceptions to this policy are as follows:

Awards or grants that are designated for support of research costs in the sponsoring laboratory or for professional travel may be accepted. Awards, grants or fellowships that provide any funds for personal (living) expenses of the Associate may not be accepted.

An award from a professional society that includes a monetary component may be accepted if the award was unsolicited (the organization selected the awardee and the awardee was nominated by others). The award must be from a recognized professional organization and must be an established award.

A one-time monetary award from the federal sponsor given in accordance with agency awards policy (e.g., Special Act, Outstanding Performance, etc.)

A university faculty member on sabbatical leave may receive sabbatical leave pay under the existing regulations of the university, but may not participate in university grant or contract activities during tenure as an Associate.

Questions regarding specific interpretation of this policy should be directed to the NRC Program Administrator (for Associates on tenure), or sent to the Research Associateship Programs at rap@nas.edu.